Eviction closes Villa Park's lone gas station

VILLA PARK – Orange County's smallest city just lost its only gas station.

Frank's Union 76 was abruptly closed Tuesday morning following a long dispute between the station's operator and the property owner at the Villa Park Towne Centre.

Sheriff's deputies arrived at about 7 a.m. to evict gas-station operator Frank Younis. By 9 a.m., the station was surrounded by a chain-link fence. The station, with a full-service auto shop, had been open for about four decades.

The site's owner, Villa Park Gas Station LLC, has been trying to replace the gas station with a new tenant, a Chase Bank. Chase would be the fourth bank inside the Towne Centre.

Younis said the owner stopped accepting his monthly rent of $14,000 in November.

"They wanted me out all along," he said. "There's nothing I could have done to stay. I'm basically bankrupt now."

Calls from the Orange County Register to the owner were not returned on Tuesday.

Younis said he invested tens of thousands of dollars in updating the station and paying off sales tax from the previous gas-station owner after taking over the business in January 2010. He said he invested in the station believing he was under a 20-year lease. But the owner later told him his lease was month to month, he said. Younis has since filed a lawsuit against the owner. Younis said that 10 of his mechanics and attendants are now without jobs.

In October, the Villa Park City Council approved a 45-day moratorium that prevented new businesses in the shopping center that weren't retail or restaurants. In November, it extended the moratorium for an additional 10 months to give the city extra time to look at what mix of restaurants, stores and banks would serve residents best.

The Towne Centre contains 13 parcels with 11 different owners. Ryan Smoot, assistant city manager, said the city can control the zoning for the area, but it can't tell owners what specific businesses to include.

On Tuesday, customers arrived to pump gas only to find the station closed.

Some in the 5,900-resident city have said that the shopping center needs a gas station more than a fourth bank. The closest station is one mile away, on Tustin Street in Orange.

"This center serves as a one-stop shop for residents," said Debbie Graham. "Now it feels like there is a big hole."